Wrapper: Nicaraguan Habano Rosado
Binder: Nicaraguan (Jalapa)
Fillers: Nicaraguan, Dominican, Mexican San Andres
Size: 6 x 54 “Box Pressed-Toro”
Body: Mild/Medium
Price: $8.75

This is a stick that has been around for a while but just never got around to reviewing it. It came out in 2010. And it’s been a while since I’ve smoked one as my old brain is failing me; I have no recollection of what I thought of it. So here goes…

The number 262 is a reference to 02/1962. This is when President Kennedy signed the embargo against Cuba.

The company’s first release was the Paradigm. This was the second. OK. You’ve had enough of a history lesson.

It’s a nice looking cigar with a crisp box press. Seams are visible but tight. Very few veins. A perfectly applied triple cap. And the wrapper is the color molten caramel with a reddish tinge, typical of a Rosado wrapper. There is only the slightest hint of oil and the cigar feels like fine grit sandpaper. There is a bit of mottling.

A great place to purchase these cigars is at Cigar Federation. The other 3 sizes are in the $6-$7 range while the Churchill runs at $9.

I clip the cap and find aromas of a very dark chocolate bar, spice, cream, and bits of cinnamon, baking spices, cedar, and leather.
Time to light up.

The first puffs are combinations of nuttiness, spiciness, and earthy tobacco. The cocoa arrives right after that and instead of being a dark chocolate; it is a creamier milk chocolate.

The draw is spot on. Smoke blinds me as I try to type with a stogie in my puss. I read someone’s review who said something that seemed to be odd at the time. He said there was a buttery taste. And he hit it right on the head. There is most definitely a buttery element, combined with an oiliness on the lips that really complements the flavor profile.

Another flavor that morphs from the nuttiness is peanuts. Or better yet, peanut brittle. It has a tiny bit of salt and that syrupy caramel taste that enhances the taste of peanuts so nicely.

So far, this is a unique tasting stick. Sweetness, of course, shows up in spades. The sweetness really enhances the peanut brittle element. Very thick with caramel. The milk chocolate has a malted milk subtlety to it. There is a distinct chocolate malted milk ball taste.

The char line begins to run for the border at the 1” mark. I take a photo and then quickly fix it. It pisses me off when I get that V burn which means it is going to canoe on me if I don’t do something. Which is burning away valuable wrapper and cigar.

The spiciness is a subtle red pepper that is not the star of the production. It lingers.

Here are the flavors, in order: Sweetness, earthiness, peanuts, creaminess, caramel, cocoa, malted milk, leather, and spice.

Smoke continues to fill the room. And cause my eyes to constantly tear.

The strength after burning 1-1/2” is medium. A soft medium body. Different online stores say it is either mild/medium bodied or medium bodied. We shall see. I am not a fan of mild bodied smokes unless in that rare instance that they are flavor bombs. And at the moment, I can’t think of a single mild bodied cigar I really like.

The sunny Wisconsin skies are being very kind to me this morning. The cigar really shimmers with oil in my photos. And you can see the minute toothiness of the caramel colored wrapper. The sun is my favorite form of lighting when I take photos of cigars. It seems to take them back to the farm.

The second third begins and I can say that the cigar is seriously sitting on the fence of becoming a flavor bomb. The strength has not moved a bit towards medium. And the char line is still struggling but no touch ups required…yet.

BTW- I’ve had this stick nestled nicely in my humidor for over 3 weeks.

All of the sweetness characteristics plus the cocoa and earthiness make for a unique flavor profile. This is the first mild cigar I’ve ever liked. You read the crap in the cigar catalogs stashed by the toilet and they all say the same thing about their mild bodied smokes: “Mild in strength but bold in flavor!!” Bullshit. They all taste like hay to me.

This is not a cheap cigar. $9 and the burn line should be a lot better than this. It should be perfect. And it ain’t. That pisses me off too.

I hit the halfway point and there is a substantial transition. The red pepper surges to the front of the line. The strength becomes a classic medium body. Flavors intensify. It is an official flavor bomb and my first that is considered a mild or mild/medium cigar.

Man oh man..this is one delicious cigar.

Here are the flavors, in order: Spice, sweetness, earthiness, cocoa, caramel, leather, peanuts, and a dash of malted milk.

I suppose that either the cigar needs more humidor time than 3 weeks or this is what you get for your $9. I don’t know. It is a very good cigar. And yes, I know it is a boutique blend which inherently means it will cost more. But good boutique companies are making some outstanding sticks in the more palatable $7 range. This should be one of those. $9 is just too high.

I smoked, and reviewed, the El Centurion Toria Limited Edition yesterday. $8 for a stick that has been released in very limited production. Now that stick is worth $8.

One last thing about the El Centurion Toria Limited Edition..if you don’t buy this fantastic cigar, you will disappoint me.
The last third begins and it is burning on all cylinders. Strength is a solid medium body.

At this point, I am not sure if I should recant my position on the cost of this cigar. The criteria I use is how soon after I start a cigar does it become full flavored. In this case, it took half the cigar to get there. The El Centurion Toria Limited Edition became a flavor bomb within the first third of the cigar. And was building towards that status almost from the beginning.

This cigar did a slow burn to get to flavor bomb status. We all have our different criteria for what makes a good cigar great. It is very subjective and I can no longer say that the cigar is overpriced. Only you can determine that.

The cigar is the epitome of smooth.

The last bit of the cigar oozes flavor. The flavor profile has changed a bit once more: Caramel, sweetness, peanuts, creaminess, cocoa, spice, and leather.

I recommend this cigar and I know you can get all the sizes for a good price at the Cigar Federation Cigar Store.

And now for something completely different:

I’m on a roll with telling you stories about how I got to meet my rock heroes and even got to jam with them.
Here is another.

We were normally the headliner of every show we did. But we did get to play a subservient position with some great bands.

We would do 6-8 weeks on the road and our paths would cross for 2-3 shows with some big band. Much bigger than us.

In this case, it was Emerson, Lake and Palmer.

Keith Emerson was the keys player. He had rigged up a standard sized grand piano on wires and some mechanical contraption so that it would spin with him on it.

The main band always got to sound check first. So we watched and listened to ELP while waiting for our turn. It was just the two of us on the bill.

I watched with extreme awe how that piano worked. It appeared that the only thing keeping Emerson on the piano while it spun was his feet. He would lock them into position with mere gravity. Instead of a standard piano bench, they rigged up a double bar that allowed his ass to sink into it while spinning.
And then he would tumble head first around and around while PLAYING!

We got our turn to sound check and ELP hung around. Curved Air was a cult legend in Europe. And this was the first tour the band had done in two years.

Honestly, except for the Average White Band, I was the only funky bassist on the Continent. At least in a big band.

Greg Lake, who played bass and guitar and sang, was intrigued with my playing and got Keith to pay attention. So there I was on stage and all members of ELP stood a few feet in front of me just staring. I could barely swallow.

Of course, I tried to show off and fortunately did not make an ass of myself. I asked the band to play a song where my bass playing really shined: “Young Mother.” A 9 minute song with a long improv in the middle.
When we finished, ELP clapped. Staring at me. This made Darryl furious. He was so insecure.

The boys jumped on to the stage to talk to me and I managed to keep calm. Keith and I really hit it off. He asked me if I wanted to take a ride on the spinning piano. According to the roadies, he never let anyone do this.

So I got on. I listened to his instructions and the off we went. The spinning became fast very quickly as it had to create the condition in which gravity kept Keith on the piano bench.

I wasn’t ready for it to spin so fast and things began to blur.

Instead of playing like Keith did, I held on to the keyboard like a cat hangs to a scratching post. It just didn’t feel like my feet would keep me on the damn thing.

Everyone laughed as they saw the expression of pure terror on my face. Keith let this go on for just a few minutes and when I got off, I stumbled around like a drunk. I have no idea how he did this in a show.

We opened for them the next night and Keith asked me during sound check if I wanted to go for another ride? I shook my head violently. NO.

Never say ELP again.

But it was a helluva experience.

Categories: CIGAR REVIEWS

Tags: 262 cigars, 262 Ideology Cigar Review, cigar review, cigar reviews by the katman, cigars